Fresno police detective arrested on bribery charge

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — A Fresno police detective has been arrested on federal charges that accuse him of taking a $20,000 bribe from a suspected drug dealer.

The Fresno Bee reports 40-year-old vice intelligence squad detective Derik Carson Kumagai was taken into custody Tuesday and booked on charges of conspiracy, bribery and extortion. An alleged co-conspirator, 40-year-old Saykham Somphoune, was also arrested and faces similar charges. Somphoune is not a law enforcement officer.

Prosecutors say the two men met several times with a suspected drug dealer. They are accused of offering to drop an investigation in exchange for a bribe payment. After the bribe was paid, prosecutors say, the suspected dealer became a confidential police informant, allowing him to "fly under the radar" as the probe continued.

It's wasn't immediately known if Kumagai and Somphoune had retained lawyers.